Woven fabric for broom-covers.



No. 69I,459. vPatented Jan. 2|, |902. W. B. FITTZ.'

WOVEN FABRIC FUR. BRUUM COVERS.

fApplication led Feb. 17, y1898.)

@No Model.)

UNITED STATES WILLIAM B. FITTZ, OF OAKDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE VVEST .BOYLSTON MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF EASTI-IAMPTON,

MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

WOVEN FABRIC FOR BROONl-COVERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 691,459, dated January 21, 1902.

Application led February 17, 1898. Serial No. 670,609. (No specimens.) A

To @ZZ whom, t may concern.'

Be it known that I, WILLIAM B. FITTZ, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oakdale, in the town of WVest Boylston, county of Worcester, and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Woven `Fabrics for Broom-Covers, of which the following is a specification, accompanied by drawings forming a part of the same, in which'-' Figure 1 represents a bunch of brooms with the broom-heads inclosed in one of my improved broom-covers.y Fig. 2 represents a port-ion of the Web as Woven in the loom, the portion shown containing three broom-covers; and Fig. 3 represents one of myimproved broom-coverscut from the web.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in the diiferent figures.

The object of myiuvention is to provide a cover for the heads of brooms When bunched for shipment adapted to be applied to the brooms without sewing or other preparation, and I accomplish this object by means of a woven tubular cover open at one end throughout its entire Width and adapted to be drawn over the broom-heads with its opposite end closed for a short distance on each side by Weaving the fabric together, leaving a central opening to receive the broom-handles and with the cover reinforced by multiplyingthe weft-threads near each end, as hereinafter described, and pointed out in the annexed claim.

It is customary with manufacturers and dealers in shipping brooms to place several brooms together-usually twelve-with their heads side by side and overlapping each other and with their handles parallel, forming a bunch of a dozen brooms, which can be handled as a single piece. The broom-corn upon the outer" surface ot' the bunch has usually been protected from becoming broken or displaced by covering the heads with a strip or bandage of light and loosely-Woven cloth of open texture, resembling what is known as cheese-cloth, which is wrapped around the heads of the brooms and sewed together. The sewing of the bandages involves considcrable expense, and the rough usage of the bunches and the thinness of the fabric render the sewing insecure.

It is the object of my invention to provide as an article of manufacture a cover which can be readily applied Without sewing or previous preparation and of a lighter and more loosely woven fabric than can be used when sewing is required, having an open mesh forming a sort of net, which suffices to hold the broom-corn upon the outside of the bunch in place and preventing it vfrom becoming broken or displaced.

Referring to the drawings, A denotes a bunch of broom-heads with one of my improved covers applied thereto, and C denotes the handles of the brooms. My improvedvcover is made as follows: I Weave a tubular fabric of the proper size to be drawn snugly over the assembled broomheads, as represented at D, Fig. 2, and at regular intervals,corresponding to the desired length of thecover, I unitethe opposite sides of the fabric, as at E and F, by Weaving them together for a short distance from each edge of the fabric to the points G and H, leaving the tubular fabric between the points E and F separated at the center, as at I. I also reinforce the tubular fabric at intervals corresponding to the ends of the individual covers by multiplying the weft-threads, as at K and L, in order to render the body of the fabric more firm at these points to enable it to resist the strain incident to applying the covers to the brooms. After Weaving the oppo` site sides of the fabric together, as at E and F, I omit the weft-threads for a short distance, as at J, Fig. 2, thereby marking the tubular fabric Where itis to be cut apart to form the individual broom-covers. The spac'es J subdivide the tubular fabric into separate and complete duplicate patterns, each of which constitutes an individual cover, by cutting the fabric apart Von the line's 1 l, one of these covers being represented at M in Fig. 3, having one end N open to allow the cover to be drawn over the bunch of broom-heads, with its opposite end O partially closed, by having the sides of the tubular fabric Woven together, as at E and F, leaving an open space I at the center.

IOO

The cover is applied to the heads of the brooms by being drawn over the handles and the broom-heads into the position represented in Fig. l, with the handles G of the brooms extending through the central opening I, as represented in Fig. 1. When the broomcover is applied to the bunch of brooms, the square corners P P, formed by the edges of the fabric and the united sides at E and F, are tucked in between the broom-heads, so that the cover will be vfitted to the curved ends Q of the heads.

My improved broom-cover is Woven in a single integral piece, and therefore can be made of a very light fabric having open meshes forming a network, for the reason that no substance is required in the fabric in order to hold the stitches, and the portions subject to the extra strain are reinforced by the multiplication of the weft-threads at regular intervals, as at K and L.

A cover adapted to a bunch of, say, twelve brooms of ordinary size is as long as the broom-head and about sixty inches in circumference; but its size can be readily varied to suit bunches of different sizes or adapted to a single broom-head.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The within-described fabric for broom-covers, consisting of a fabric tubular inthe direction of its length, and divided into sections D, D, by spaces, or gaps, J in the weft., said fabric having reinforcing weft-threads K and L on each side of the spaces J and united on one side of said spaces J by being Woven together at E and F from each edge of the fabric toward the center, With an open section I at the center of the fabric, substantially as described.

Dated this 25th day of January, 1898.

lVILLlAiI B. FITTZ.

Vitnesses: y

GEO. L. HYDE, RuFUs B. FOWLER. 

